Electrical junction boxes, common in both residential and commercial construction, are safety enclosures generally used for housing electrical branching and circuitry. More specifically, junction boxes house electrical connections and terminations, electrical conductors, and fixtures, receptacles and other electrical components.
In certain construction applications, junction boxes are mounted and used for these electrical applications on suspended conduit racks, which are hung near ceilings or overhead spaces. These racks routinely consist of runs of protective piping or conduit which house electrical wiring for the system. The junction boxes are positioned within the racks, between the runs of conduit, for wiring connection and termination purposes.
An exemplar configuration of common usage of a junction box in a conduit rack system is shown in FIG. 1. Rack system 1 has three parallel runs of electrical wire containing conduit 2, 4, 6 and 6a. Junction box 8 is positioned below cover conduit runs 2 and 4, which extend over top of the box. Given the configuration of current conduit rack systems, it is necessary to bend protective conduits 6 and 6a for connection to junction box 8, in order to connect to the junction box without undue interference. Of course, bending such conduits requires added material and increased labor costs. Additional time must be spent to size and bend conduit so it can be properly fitted into the system. Bent conduit disrupts the planar configuration of conduit racks and, moreover, takes up added space under the rack.